Hitting The Mark
by Copper Miles
Summary: Kakashi x Anko story. Please read ONLY IF YOU ARE CAUGHT UP IN THE MANGA. I don't want to be labled a spoiler. I took a lot of liberty in this story; Hope you do not mind. Other than that, Enjoy.


The sun set blazing in the western sky.

Anko mitarashi was running fast as she could through the forest. With speed and agility, she leapt from branch to branch, dodging twigs and leaves, and breathing hard. Her dark purple hair whipped wildly in her face, her long khaki coat flapped in the wind, and her small feet leapt deftly from tree to tree.

Her mission was only the nightly patrol of the city walls. After pein was defeated the tedious task of security in Konoha was increased so that not only Chunins guarded the outer walls, Special Jounins were expected to keep watch as well. It wasn't like Konoha was not low on ninjas anyway, however a new war was emerging and the city was on high alert.

"Hopefully, my shift will end soon". Anko growled to herself,

"I need dango or something."

The night was calm and peaceful. If she was not as fast-paced and hasty as she was; she would of noticed the miraculous sunset. The sky was crimson red and stained with blood.

In the silence a lone bird chirped and flew away, alighting from a crooked branch. Anko was reminded vaguely of something sad that happened long ago when she was young. She just couldn't put her finger on the feeling.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, pain shot through her left shoulder like a black invisible dagger. It was the curse mark again. But why now? It stung up her neck and back, she stopped short on a thick branch and crouched over in agony. The curse had not hurt this bad in a while. She had not felt like this in a long time; not since Orochimaru died.

The sky was slowly succombing to the deep strong blue of twilight and the rays of the golden sun bounced off the hue of her wild grey eyes.

she twisted in torment.

'what the heck is this?' she said to herself clenching her jaw.

Then, drifting in from the half-light, Anko heard a solemn voice.

"long time no see. Anko." it spoke quietly. The voice was masked and mysterious, wrapping slowly around and around in the mild night's air.

Anko turned to the get a better look of the figure. She had felt this way before; very long ago.

Her dark eyes widened in shock; but he just smiled.

* * *

Kakashi-sensei was dreaming. He was young again; before the chunin exams, before Obito, before the crashing and thundering of adult-hood, before his dad died, and before Anko.

He was practicing as usual in the green fields outside his house. He threw every shining shuriken on target, every metal kunai on mark, every transition was perfect and flawless, except one. One flawed kunai missed the center and bounced off the wooden board he used for training.

"Dull blade." He concluded with bitterness.

Laughter trickled from the branches of a tree behind him. With the sun behind her frisky mass of hair, Anko Mitarashi sat in the thick boughs of the cedar, smirking deviously. A flash of her quick hand, and her own sharp kunai hit the center of the target perfectly.

"Too easy." She added, tossing her head, and with one swift move she landed on the earth beside him.

Kakashi knit his eyebrows. "who did she think she was?" He scoffed in his head.

"Whats a matter?" Anko pouted going to the board to retrieve her lone kunai, then flashing her evil smile, "afraid of a little girl beating you."

Suddenly hoards of weaponry flew through the air and almost pinned Anko to the wooden target. Luckily, no kunai had hit her, but they surrounded her body's outline, dart-like on the board behind her.

"Are you crazy?"she yelled, red in the face, "you could of hit me!"

"You were in my way." Kakashi responded archly. But on the inside he smiled, you just couldn't see it from behind the mask. "And if you dont leave soon i might hit you the next time." He added.

"I wasn't planning on staying." remarked Anko, slyly like a snake in the grass. "I just wanted to scope out the competition for the chunin exams. Orochimaru-sensei said I would be up against you. And _you_are supposed to be the genius, ha!" she laughed walking away, toward Kakashi's far right. "You still need to learn a little something about hitting the mark."

Just then, Anko threw up her kunai and it graced the back of Kakashi's headband. With a plop, the hatai-ate broke off and fell onto the ground and Anko had disappeared, without a trace.

Kakashi sputtered out of sleep. While a part of him felt dead and dry knowing that the past was so far away, another part wanted to remember it all again; to recall the sweet dazzling dreams of childhood.

Were they all so innocent then: to think that love could ever be true and happily ending?

The more tender half of him won, and cautiously he recollected anko and himself, when they were younger and able to love.

The younger, more reckless Kakashi had tried to convince himself to be angry. He even huffed about her in front of Yondaime, while they were training one day. Knowingly, Yondaime had laughed at Kakashi's "anger" and discretely understood the truth.

"Maybe you should talk to her and tell her she hurt your feelings." The Fourth suggested.

"What? No!" Kakashi spat, "She would just laugh."

"Well, I guess you'll just have to wait until the exams to see her again." Yondaime concluded.

Kakashi thought about this begrudgingly. The truth was, he didn't want to wait for the exams. So kakashi did something he never thought he would do, he went looking for her.

He told himself he was crazy, He even came up with excuses why he shouldn't, but eventually he did. "I'm just going to return this kunai she left back to her." He thought. That was reasonable enough.

He searched for half the day. He examined the training fields, he went over the main square, he looked near the hospital, near the convenient stores, the dog park, the knitting circle, and the library. Finally, close to sun down, he found her walking out of a sweets shop, snacking on dangos.

"That figures." He said to himself, and he quietly observed her from the top of a near by roof. Carefully, he crouched there and thought, more or less, about what he would say to her when they met.

Suddenly a mangy gang of teen age kids appeared from out of an alley-way, obviously up to no good. Anko seemed to take no notice of them as they followed closely behind her.

"Hey you!" One of the taller ones said, pointing and grinning ominously. Anko stopped, but did not turn around to look at them.

"How's your dango, sweetie?" One of them teased.

"Yeah," said another, "can i have a bite?"

"You guys are disgusting." Anko raged, a boiling temper inside of her voice. "You must be new to Konoha. Any local would know not to mess with the girls in this city: they might be ninjas."

She promptly finished her dango, licking the stick for the last grain of sugar.

"What's she saying?" One of them questioned dumbly.

"Hey!" The tallest one shouted enraged, "I asked nicely for a bite!"

He came at her clumsily but Anko just dodged the blows. Instantly, the whole group became up-roared, and tried, without success, to fight the ninja. Anko seemed to enjoy herself, in the middle of the whirlwind, and laughed at their futile attempts.

Just then, one of the boys in the group pulled out a sharp bright metal knife. He was out of Anko's range of sight, and with added fury, he jumped on her and pointed the knife at her chest.

"I did ask nicely..." He grinned at her, thinking he had won.

"HEY!" a new voice shouted, undoubtedly Kakashi's.

He had jumped off the roof into the middle of the commotion and heroically pointed toward Anko saying, "Leave her alone. Didn't your parents teach you not to fight girls?"

"Not to fight girls?" Anko jeered, managing a smirk from underneath the grasp of the intruder, "Why? Are the parent's afraid the girl will dominate?"

"Yeah. Because we can all see you are." Kakashi stated rolling his eyes.

"All i have to say, " Anko laughed, "is that girls rule and boys drool."

And with that, Anko disappeared into a cloud of smoke leaving behind a lifeless log in the tallest boy's arms.

"Transformation!" kakashi thought, relizing the trick.

The reckless teenage gang looked from Kakashi to the log, then back to Kakashi again.

"Get 'em!" they yelled, throwing down the log, but to their stupor and dismay, Kakashi vanished as well into a poof of smoke and dust.

"What the...?" The tallest boy stammered, astonished, "maybe we should lay off the rice balls..."

Kakashi reappeared behind the sweets shop, half angry he didn't get to fight, half dazed that Anko had tricked them so easily, and just a little stricken by the warm feeling in his chest.

"So, i have a stalker." Anko spoke to Kakashi lightly, pouncing with ease off the roof of the shop. She had been watching him.

Kakashi paused for a moment while contradicting feelings beamed like lightning inside of him.

"I just came back to give you the kunai you had left the other day." kakashi continued smoothly, he handed it over to her.

"Arigato." She smiled, just as smooth, and started to walk away.

"Do i get a thank-you for helping you just now?" Kakashi asked, saying anything to keep her from leaving.

"Helping?" Anko scoffed, turning to look him in the eyes."I had it all taken care of."

He did not say anything, she was very close now and coming in closer, and still kakashi did not know how to feel. He stared intently into her infinite grey eyes.

"But i'll thank you anyway." Anko added slyly.

"Why?" he managed to ask.

"For stalking me, stepping in to help, and making yourself look like a fool."

"Your welcome." He smiled from underneath his mask.

They lingered, not sure what to say or do. The sun had gone down purple and the night darkened into a deep violet. Surrounded by wispy clouds, the moon was full and its eye stared down on the two, who were still not making up their minds.

And suddenly without thought, without mindfulness, or guilt, Kakashi bent down and lightly kissed Anko. She kissed back swiftly and dangerously.

Kakashi did not know what to think. In that moment they were so happy, young and careless, pleased and innocent. Yet, there was still something wrong, a feeling of doubt, sadness, or fear, that stood rooted like the mask Kakashi still wore separating their two lips.

Then instantly, the moment left them.

"I'll see you at the Chunin exams, Kakashi." Anko told him.

"You promise?" Kakashi questioned.

"I'll be there." She told him; reassuring him.

And with a sharp turn of her heels, Anko was gone into the purple darkness, disappearing without a trace into the wind.

* * *

In Kakashi's memories, time went by quickly, passing like a giant blurr. He remembered waiting anxiously for the exams, passing the first two tests, and standing in the dusty open field of the Konoha stadium. For an eternity, He waited there, for the person whose name that the announcer had called to come and fight him. They had called her name: Anko. Frozen in time, he stood there, thoughts diving downward like birds after prey.

Wasn't it Anko who inspired him to form his ultimate jutsu, chidori, with the sound of chirping birds and buzzing winds reminding him of the way he felt when he was around her? She was the reason why the world had gone grey, right there and then when they had called her name over and over but noone had shown. Where had she gone, had she disappeared forever without a word into the sky?

In the end, he had to fight some loser in the stadium. He did not waste his time conjuring up his chidori for him. No, in the very last, he brandished his new jutsu on the mission with Yondaime after he became a Chunin. The mission where Obito died and he gained his ultimate weapon, and yet, his ultimate curse.

And still after all this was over, he wondered where she had gone, and if she cared anymore. All of his life was falling like cold rain from a dark stormy sky. Obito, Rin, his father, and her were all falling and drifting away. Coldly, he was left with the wrong questions. Was it ever love? Were we just to young to know?

Kakashi dared not think of the rest of what happened; the full story, but it seemed his mind was leading him there unwillingly. His heart craved even a taste of her, and to do that he had to remember back to the time when all hope went out, when the darkest time of his life got darker.

* * *

Just as sudden as she had left, she reappeared, quietly and without any welcome. The news was that Anbu had found her on a distant beach, deserted and cursed by the rogue ninja Orochimaru. Officials had dubbed her Special Jounin after some private testing since she had missed the original test date.

When Kakashi heard this everything made sense. He saw her once or twice, from afar, in the mission's room or when she was coming out of a dango store, but he never had the courage to go up to her. He could not partly because of his own fear and half because of what he had heard of what happened to her while she was kidnapped. He had to make sure, he couldn't just believe the gossip, he needed to check the records and understand what had actually happened to her.

So one black and cold night, Kakashi crept out of his house and headed for the Hokage's office, where every Konoha's ninja's records were kept under high security. With great skill and stealth, he broke into the darkened room through one of the windows and opened the desk containing the files. He found the file under 'Mitarashi' and peered into the papers took note of her entire life.

What he saw there shocked him. There were places completely marked out with black ink, no record was kept to full detail of her childhood, and only a few of the newest papers were completed. These papers scared him even more. The newest entries read "patient under high distress" and "has been under severe torture, manipulation, and brain-wash" and "extensive memory loss, patient had difficulty recalling her own name."

Kakashi was completely stunned. To learn this, to know this, was like a nail being pinned into his heart. He was angry, saddened, appalled, and sympathizing all at the same time. But still, he had one question burning in his mind; one thing he had to know that no file could tell him.

Swiftly, he made his way to Anko's house. She was there walking, more like pacing, on top of the beams of her roof.

She appeared to be thinking intensely, her eyebrows were knit together, and her hands were crossed over her chest to keep out the cool night's air. The night had no moon, the stars shone unceasingly, like little droplets or thousands of twinkling tears. Landing softly behind Anko, Kakashi crouched silently, not even sure of what he would say.

"Anko." He started but she did not turn around. "I heard what happened to you and I was wondering if I- I mean- if you..."

his voice melted away, he was staring at her, and he gulped.

She turned around and faced him, looking in his eye.

"I'm sorry." anko told him coldly, "I don't remember you."

...

"Oh." Kakashi breathed, his heart sinking away into darkness, "Oh, okay. That's fine. Um...I'm Kakashi." He held out his hand.

"Im Anko." she replied shaking his hand and giving a forced smile.

"I guess I'll be leaving." he continued awkwardly, he took one last look at her before exiting off the roof and making his way back home. The moment was gone again, leaving them both feeling empty.

* * *

While Kakashi slept through the night, he thought of what he would do if he had one more chance. However chances do not come often and the two had not talked in many years. Of course there was small talk, which he was never any good at and which silence usually took up the most part.

This is how the years had passed away, silently and quickly. He was an adult now and so was she, he had been on countless missions and so had she. She was so close to him, and somehow still so distant; it was like two universes separated by a thin length of string. Although he knew she did not even remember him, every time he looked at her it seemed like she was even more beautiful than the last time.

* * *

Anko was still perched on the branch of a tree just outside the Konoha city walls. The sun was just setting and he was there, so close she could feel his warm breath on her neck.

"No use screaming for help." Kabuto, the fierce medical ninja told her, whispering in her ear. " A sound barrier jutsu has been put up, your only choice is to come with me."

Pain exploded on her shoulder, radiating like thousands of sharp metal needles. Still, something inside her shifted and moved into place. She would be ready.

Kabuto put a hand on her shoulder, exactly where the curse mark was and Anko yelled over the sharpening pangs. He stood smiling, with a black shadowy cloak covering his long silver hair.

"Your time has come." He told her morbidly.

"Your time has come?" Anko asked with a scoff, "What type of bad-guy line is that? Is that supposed to scare me? You sound more like a waiting-room doctor than a criminal, kabuto. But i guess you always were that type, weren't you?"

Kabuto laughed raising his head so that Anko could see the transformation in him. He was not Orochimaru, yet he was. Looking like a half-human snake, he grinned at her, stretching his cold crackling skin into a ghastly smile.

"What a poor ninja you make." Kabuto smirked coldly,

"Stubborn to the very last, and insulting the victor. You speak so proudly for one whom the fight is already over. Can you not see that there is no way to win?" He stooped down and cupped his hand on her chin, "Yes, my dear, you have already lost."

"You tell me i assume to much and you assume yourself." Anko growled, disliking the smug brat more every second, "What a jerk. Do you expect me to just give up? No, way."

Instantly she swung her foot around to trip Kabuto, which he dodged. With difficulty, she stood, doubled over by the pain of the curse. Kabuto attacked first, coming at her with great speed and accuracy. She managed to escape every attack he made and snagged him with her Hidden Shadow Snake Hand Jutsu. The snakes wrapped around and around him but he just laughed.

"Did you really think that a jutsu Orochimaru invented would be able to trap me?" Kabuto spat, "I am Orochimaru!" he told her laughing madly.

He raised his hands and broke through the trap.

"You are not Orochimaru." Anko spoke quietly, "You are just a mimic, a copy."

"Yes, my dear, but so are you." He added. " you are his curse and his student."

"Not anymore." she told him sharply.

Suddenly kabuto felt a sharp pain in his foot. He peered down in horror to find that a single black scaled snake had found its way to him and had bitten him on the foot.

"That's something I have invented." Anko told him, fiercly, "It's a jutsu that finds its way to the enemy, even while i am busy fighting. The snake is highly poisonous, deadly actually. You have no possible way out, even if you are medical ninja. The poison has no cure; as of now, you only have 30 seconds."

To her surprise, Kabuto laughed. Loudly and uncontrollably, he laughed, raising his head to the sky.

"Orochimaru should have known better than to have thrown you aside." he bellowed, "Yet, i have still won."

Anko listened disbelieving and then it hit her. She dropped to her knees and grasped at the curse mark, it had something stuck in it that she hadn't noticed before. Staggering to the ground, she found a small needle in the curse mark, undoubtedly poisoned.

"It was too easy." Kabuto raved, "I knew the pain in your curse-mark would flare when I, with Orochimaru's chakra, drew near. Because of this, I planted the poisen directly in the curse-mark with the needle when I put my hand on your shoulder. You just thought it was the curse, didn't you?"

Anko did not answer, she fell flat on her face and drifted off into a deep uncertain sleep. He had won. Obscurely, she felt hands grab at her waist and felt herself being hoisted on someones back.

Floating thoughts swirled in her mind, all of them to far away to understand. She slept uneasily and dreamed about distant unnamed things. Things that did not matter in the realm of sleep.

* * *

Anko dreamed and remembered something about her childhood. Lightly, the memories graced her mind. she recalled walking in a forest filled with light, holding someones hand who was bigger than hers, maybe her father's, and laughing.

Suddenly she remembered Kakashi. Dreaming and recollecting all at once; she saw him in the training fields, at the sweets shop, and on that night long ago when she first kissed him. Emotions swelled up inside her, hidden feelings were up heaved and released into her consciousness. She had loved him! The thought constricted in her mind like a snake, recoiling into certainty. She had loved him and yet she had broken his heart.

Anko opened her eyes with a start. Horribly, she quickly relized she couldnt move. She was strapped on a cold metal medical table, a beeping screen machine monitored her pulse and heartbeat, and there were IVs stuck in her arms and sensors taped at her sides. Kabuto was there too, grinning down on her.

"How does it feel?" He asked.

She did not reply.

"You should be thankful." He told her inserting as much malice as he could into each solemn word, " I have decided to give you back all your precious memories, my dear. Considering the fact that you, as of now, only have 2 days to live I guess I should show you mercy.

Memories." He whispered lightly adding on emphasis, "The chains that link us to our heart. And yet I wonder if a snake like you had ever loved.

I can see why Orochimaru liked you, you have that shadow in your heart as we do. Oh yes, you and I are not much different.

By the way, the Poisenous Snake Jutsu you used was a good try, but far below the abilities I now possess. Didn't I tell you I am Orochimaru? Yes, my dear, I am already dead.

So, i guess you want to hear the whole story, huh?" He asked milking every moment, " The complete story of you, how you came to be, and why I need you to die. Well then, I shall tell you.

Orochimaru made a mistake on you. While creating and envisioning the curse-mark, he wished to make something that would add more to the darkness in one's heart; enhancing and clarifying the hatred. Accordingly, he inserted the dark chakra of hatred into the ten test subjects. You, of course, were the only one to survive.

Intrigued, he sought to find out why this was, and instantly found his mistake. When Orochimaru planted the curse-mark on you, he accidentally gave you a portion of his chakra, his very own hatred. The curse-mark you have, carries his own power; his chakra, within you. That is the reason why you could handle it, because you were young. You were pure and without hate in your heart.

After he understood this, he reduced the potency of the future curse-marks. In the end, he made it so that the later curses would feed off the hatred in the heart they were placed on, not so that he was giving away his own dark chakra.

However this was not so, with you; you were the original. You still carry his chakra within you, like a burden. When he asked you to follow him that day of testing on the island, you refused him and yet he let you live. He even allowed you to "escape" the island and go back to Konoha. Now, i wonder why?

I think you were his weakness, Anko. He could not, and would not see you killed, even after you refused him, because you were a part of him. Even now, he is still a part of you. Does it make sense now, Anko, why that burning pain in the curse-mark boiled while he was around? It belonged to him; It was his.

He could of killed you on the island, he could of went after you and killed you in Konoha, or he could of even killed you that time you confronted him in the forest of death but yet he did not. That was his mistake. You were his mistake.

So that is why i need you with me now, Anko. I must have the rest of his chakra; I need every part of his power. With your help and cooperation, I will extract the chakra he left in you and I will be complete.

You have two days to live, Anko. By the end of those days I will have extracted all from you that I need and then I will kill you. I will make sure and kill you, to correct my master's one mistake." He paused and peered down at Anko, who still said nothing.

She was in shock. Everything he had said made so much sense, that she felt stupid for not relizing it before. Orochimaru, that idiot. Why did he let her live, to suffer indefinitely bearing his hatred?

"Sleep tight, Anko."

kabuto whispered, his eyes glaring at her.

He held a syringe filled with yellow liquid and pressed it into her skin. The poison burned inside her while kabuto continued, "I told you I was merciful. You will sleep your two last days away, and while you dream, you will remember all that you have forgotten. I will let you recall all of your past; every memory and every thought. And when those days are up, you will die knowing everything you had once known. It should be nice."

His voice slipped away. Anko was being drug down into the darkness and blackness of her past. Memories jotted through her head, rising to the surface of her mind. Everything she had once known, came back to her. Her heart was being repaired and broken at the same time.

Pleasantly and beautifully, time passed by churning and blending together like a colorful umbrella being spinned on a rainy day. She could of stayed there forever, content and dozing in her memories always, but deep inside herself she knew she would rather survive than remember all the histories of the entire universe. She had to make it out alive. She was a ninja for goodness sake.

She forced her heavy eyelids open. She would not sleep the rest of her life away; she would fight. It was dark in the medical room, the walls around her were surrounded with warped metal instruments and medical tools. With an aching head and neck she surveyed the room around her dizzily. She almost forgot what she had been meaning to do, but then it came to her.

In her hand she clung to a small metal needle that Kabuto had stuck inside her curse-mark, she had pulled it out before fainting the night before. Busy bragging and talking, kabuto had forgotten all about the needle he had first used to drug her. Anko began to rip at one of the leather straps that secured her to the medical table using the needle. She struggled to free herself; doing it all with a slight smile.

* * *

It was a normal day for Kakashi. He slept in, woke up late, he poured a cold cup of coffee and drank it black, he took a nice relaxing shower, and then left his house to go to the mission's room. While walking, he read his new icha icha with ease and arrived, of course late, at the mission's desk.

"Kakashi! Kakashi!" shouted Kotetsu, startling him out of a deep concentration on his book.

"What is it?" kakashi said looking up. He could tell something was wrong.

"Lady Tsunade demands your presence." he continued.

Kakashi nodded and disappeared in a cloud of mist.

Dang, it was only nine in the morning and Lady Tsunade was already demanding. With a puff of smoke, Kakashi emerged in the Hokage's office.

"You rang?" He told her with a small smirk.

"It's Anko. She has disappeared." Tsunade replied solemnly.

His heart skipped a beat.

"Anko Mitarashi?" Kakashi inquired unbelieving.

"Yes, Kakashi, what other Anko do you know?" Tsunade gave him a look.

"What happened?" He demanded.

"This morning i entered my office and found this." Tsunade held up a black writhing snake, its red tongue flickering like a lick of flame.

"This is Anko's new jutsu I helped her create." continued Tsunade," Fearing the worst, I sent two patrols and they came back with this."She showed him a sharp kunai.

"The patrol said the scene looked like a fight had occured there last night and a sensor ninja reported that Anko's chakra had been used there recently along with two others."

"Who?" kakashi asked, his voice tense.

"Orochimaru and Kabuto's chakra." Tsunade remarked.

"Kabuto." kakashi spat under his breath.

"She must have sent the snake as a sign that she is in danger. I have assigned you, and three other Anbu to track her down and bring her back safely. Do not fail me Kakashi, this is an important mission."

Kakashi did not respond. The thought of Anko, once again, in some lunatic's laboratory; under some plan of malicious demise or torture made him cringe. He tightened his hand into a fist.

"Can you do this, Kakashi?" Tsunade questioned, her hands clasped and resting under her chin.

"Why me?" He responded, "For this type of mission, why wouldn't you just send Anbu?"

"That is a good question." Tsunade smiled, winking at Shizune who giggled slightly holding onto her pig, "I decided to send you for a number of reasons. You are one of the best trackers in Konoha and you are also one fit for this particular mission due to your infatuation and interest in Anko."

Kakashi coughed, blushed, and scoffed all at the same time.

"I was going through the records a while back and noticed that the Third Hokage had written an interesting report on you. "Attempted to sneak into my office to look at Anko's file..." I think is how it read." She laughed as he gave a look of utter shock.

"Did you really think the Hokage's office was that easy to break in to?" Tsunade grinned, " don't worry, your secret's safe with me. But, you better get going or there will be no Anko to save." She added with some seriousness.

Kakashi nodded silently. Before he left the Hokage's office, he stopped to grab Anko's kunai. Tsunade gave him a curious look as he briskly walked away to prepare for the new mission.

In record time, Kakashi was running and leaping through the dense and tangled forest with three other Anbu trailing behind. Kakashi stopped and crouched where the fight with kabuto had occured the night before outside of the city walls and summoned Pakkun. The dog appeared in disdain, his eyes on Kakashi.

"What?" He barked.

"Do you remember Anko Mitarashi?" Kakashi asked the dog.

"The girl you used to slobber over?" Pakkun replied.

'Does everyone know?' Kakashi thought, a little annoyed.

"Yeah." he commented, rubbing the back of his neck, " Her."

The Anbu beside him snickered.

"Um, anyway, I need you to track her scent from this area."

"Yes sir!" the dog told him and began to sniff the surroundings. In a few seconds, Pakkun reported that he had found her trail and the ninjas whisked away toward that direction.

* * *

Anko was struggling to rip through the first leather restraint on the medical table. The drugs kabuto had given her were covering her mind like a cloudy fog, making her drowsy and slow. At last, the first strap broke free and Anko wiggled to take her needle to the next belt. Finally, after extensive effort the harness tore open. She unlatched herself from the table, quickly tore off the sensors attached to her skin and painfully ripped off the piercing IV that was inserted in her forearm.

She gazed at the IV. It was pumping and drawing out an oozing black liquid from her arm, containing it all in a plastic IV bag hooked onto a metal stand next to the table. After she tore the curious IV needle from her skin the strange dark fluid leaked out of the incision. To her surprise, the shadowy substance from the bag instantly melted off her arm, fumed into the air like thick blackened smoke, and found its way, suctioning like an invisible dark wind, back into her burning curse-mark. Immediately, the curse-mark seared in pain and she realized the dark misty juice was Orochimaru's chakra being drawn out from her own blood.

"He wants that idiot's power; he can have it." Anko said to herself. She did not care much that Kabuto wanted the curse Orochimaru had given her; she was actually a little glad that his chakra had been sucked out of her. The curse mark did not hurt as much and it felt as if a great weight had been lifted from off her shoulders.

She stopped up the dripping IV with a lid she found and proceeded to find a way out of Kabuto's asylum. Peering around the darkened medical room, she blindly searched for a path. The drug's effect dulled her senses, her head was pounding, and she felt weakened from the loss of chakra.

When she finally thought she could see a way out, a huge noise interrupted her plans. It came suddenly, sounding like a giant crash; and her heart skipped a beat. Instantly buzzing alarms and flashing lights went off in the lair. Someone had foiled her escape even before she could.

"Nice try, Anko." said a slimy voice behind her, of course Kabuto's. She felt another needle in her neck. Kabuto stood beside her emptying yet another syringe containing even more poisen.

The medicine poured into her mind, waving away every worry, alarm and care. All she wanted to do was to fall asleep and waste away into oblivion. She dropped to her knees hanging on to every second she could still awake.

"What's with all these needles?" she panted pathetically, "you afraid i might actually escape?"

"Just in case." Kabuto grinned toxicly, " but really, what was that noise?"

"I wouldn't be that stupid to set off an alarm." Anko struggled.

she tried to kick at him, but he blocked her. She attempted a right hook and a left hook but all her moves were heavy and weighed down from the toxin.

"You are pretty unlucky." Kabuto told her, "I was going to let you die in peace, but now, since you are being such a nuisance, I think I will kill you and take the rest of Orochimaru's power from your corpse."

Kabuto bent over and grabbed a long sharp knife, he drew it slowly to Anko's neck.

"Would you care to beg?" Kabuto taunted her.

"Shinobis don't beg." She replied, facing death with a cold stare, "not even to half-weasels like you."

"Suit yourself." he said lightly raising up the bright sharp knife.

* * *

"This is were the trail stops." Pakkun said emotionlessly.

"Great. Thank you, Pakkun." Kakashi told the dog. "You can go now."

"Glad to help." Pakkun replied and then disappeared in a billow of cloud.

Silence took over while the ninjas inspected the surroundings.

the forest was terribly dark. All around them were hanging arms of bent leafy trees, outstretched fingers of tall wavy grass, and the crooked teeth of fallen tree trunks and jagged rocks. Cloudy and obscure was the atmosphere; everything was silent and watchful.

"I don't see a hideout." One of the Anbu said.

Kakashi did not reply. Instantly he stooped to the ground and pressed his ear to a smooth flattened rock. Closing his eyes, he listened to the small tremors and vibrations of the earth. Suddenly, he heard it. There was a noise: a small beep or whistle, not from any tree or forest creature, but from a lab.

"This is a secret hideout." Kakashi continued, answering the Anbu, "We're not supposed to see it."

Immediately, kakashi lite up his chidori. The jutsu flashed in his hands: blue and white; the hottest of flames. Sounds of chirping birds and lightning filled the air. He was reminded, maybe, of Anko when they were young so long ago. With an extreme motion he forced his chidori into the ground and it exploded beneath them astonishingly. Underneath all the dirt and piled soot the explosion revealed Kabuto's hideout. The ninjas were looking down into a room as if they had just blasted through a ceiling.

Just then, a couple of Kabuto's rogue ninjas jumped from the room and prepared to fight them.

"I'm going in to find Anko." Kakashi stated to the other Anbu, realizing the noise he had just created from the chidori blast probably was not the best stealthy tactic, "Stay here and take care of these." He added referring to Kabuto's extra men.

"Okay!" the Anbu answered. Kakashi knew they would be able to handle them.

In a flash, he leapt into the dark room and bounded down the twisted hallways. Menacingly, he heard the alarms and sirens and searched for the room where he held her. Every step was a nightmare; it was like one of his horrible dreams, and as he got closer the more he thought he might already be too late. He prayed that if he could rescue anyone, he would somehow rescue her; even if he was not able to save Obito, Rin, or his father. He did not want her to fall into the darkness of his past; he wanted her to be a part of his future.

* * *

Kabuto held up the knife. Anko closed her eyes and sweetly remembered her entire life. It flashed before her like a blazing chidori. Maybe Kabuto was right, maybe dieing while finally remembering was the best way to go. Perhaps she was meant to die after knowing all that she had once forgotten.

* * *

"HEY!" kakashi yelled, busting into the room and launching a kunai into Kabuto's side. "Leave her alone." he warned.

Kabuto staggered back away from Anko. Taking the chance, Anko strained to evade Kabuto's grasp and fell into Kakashi's arms.

He swallowed as he looked into her deep grey eyes.

"A-are you okay?" He asked.

"Heck no. I'm not okay." Anko spat, " I can barely stand."

"You stay here." Kakashi told her, " I'll take care of him."

She looked at him and watched him push up his headband revealing the churning crimson sharingan. He had a strange look on his face and a glint in his eye, that made her heart beat loudly.

"Please be careful." she ordered him and he just smiled from behind the black mask.

"Kakashi Hatake." Kabuto boomed. Kakashi did not say anything.

"Well, well. Seems like someone has finally came to the rescue. I was starting to think that this snake was incapable of loving anyone; that noone would seek after her." he continued, "but she seemed to have snagged a few hearts. I was just going to-"

"Will you hurry this up Kabuto?" Anko growled, sitting on the floor.

"Yeah seriously, you can save the lecture for your chemistry class." Kakashi said rolling his eyes.

"Fine." He stated. " Chakra no mesu!"

Kabuto's hands lite up with a light blue fire. Twisting and bending, his chakra built up onto his hands fitting them like medical gloves.

"Ready, Kakashi?" he asked, grinning at him ominously.

Immediately Kabuto came at Kakashi with his chakra no mesu and kakashi dodged it all very swiftly with his sharingan. Anko observed intently, she was drained and hurt; but not dead yet.

Watching the fight, she noticed Kakashi's chakra converging into his hands. 'He must be building up for an attack' she thought. He just needed an opening.

"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!" Anko shouted, standing up and releasing snakes from her outstretched arms. The vipers wrapped around Kabuto completely catching him while distracted, and Kakashi hit him with his raikiri directly in the chest. Lightning crackled and singed on Kabuto's bare skin. He cried in anguish, but seeing his opportunity, he grabbed hold of one of Anko's black snakes and yanked her towards him.

'Oh no.' Kakashi realized.

"Anko!" he yelled, but it was too late. Kabuto stood holding Anko, the knife raised in his hand about to strike. With sickening speed, he pierced her in the heart with the bright, shining knife and she fell to the floor. Then suddenly, she disappeared.

Exhausted and spent, the real Anko fell behind kakashi, wiped out from all the poison and the loss of chakra.

'Kage Bunshin!' Kakashi thought, understanding the trick.

"You can go ahead and fight the rest, now." Anko stated tiredly, giving Kakashi a half-smile.

"Yeah. I'll make sure and fight the rest after you give me a heart attack." Kakashi told her, a little ticked that he had been tricked so easily.

"Oh, come on." Anko smirked, "Get over it."

"You can be more careful." He replied.

"You can be less of a push-over."

"I'm the one trying to save you here." he told her.

"I didn't ask you to come and save me."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes. " Anko smiled, " I had it all worked out before you went and set off the alarm."

"May I please say SOMETHING!" Kabuto yelled, crouched over from the raikiri that he took, "You two bicker like an old married couple."

"We divorced a long time ago." Anko winked.

"Great, then." Kabuto flared, "It shouldn't be too bad if one of you dies, right?"

Both of them stared blankly in horror, not understanding him. Then Anko cried in pain and Kakashi turned to catch her as she fell, trembling in agony. Sinking its teeth into her skin, a small black snake had wound up her leg.

"What's the use in saving a dead Anko, Kakashi?" Kabuto stormed, "Recognize it, Anko? Bitten by her own jutsu. That is just sad."

He laughed crazily.

"I'll make sure and be there at her funeral." he ranted, " so that I can take back the rest of Orochimaru's chakra from her cold body. Don't mistake me. I will be back for her, dead or alive."

Bending down over Anko, Kakashi looked into her sparkling grey eyes. They reminded him of coal left from a fire, still warm and vaguely glowing. The toxin was flowing through Anko's bloodstream, she knew she only had a few last seconds. She dared to stare back at Kakashi. Distantly she watched him panic while holding her, there was horror in his eyes, and every emotion could be seen on his face; rapidly passing like flipping pages in a book. She understood that look. Even if he didn't say how he felt, he didn't need to; she could feel it. Every inch of him was begging her, asking her to please not die.

"The chakra." Anko whispered, dryly.

"What?" Kakashi asked panicked,"What is it?"

"Orochimaru's chakra. Kabuto said... my jutsu didn't work on him because he was already dead. He is Orochimaru; he survived because his chakra prevented the poison."

Kakashi looked at her in confusion.

"The black liquid!" Anko strained to tell him, pointing to where the metal IV stand was,"just break the bag!"

He glanced over to the plastic IV bag containing the darkened chakra.

"It's too late!" Kabuto roared, he gripped the plastic bag in his hands, "She only has a few seconds and you cannot get this chakra back because i have it."

But Kakashi was not listening to him and he threw a kunai his direction. Speeding through the air, the kunai dived toward Kabuto, he tried to avoid it but the kunai was thrown too accurately and it pierced the plastic bag. It burst open and smoking black energy exploded into the air. Like water running down a drain, the shadowy chakra rushed back into Anko's shoulder, lighting up the curse-mark with a fresh wave of pain. Anko yelled and recoiled in Kakashi's arms but yet, 30 seconds passed and she was still breathing.

Kabuto observed the scene in disgust. Of course Anko had survived the bite; Orochimaru had achieved partial immortality so it would take much more than just a snake bite to kill off his soul. Kabuto was in no shape to fight, the raikiri had blasted a dent in his chest and the wound was bleeding incessantly. He said nothing to the other two but silently disappeared; he withdrew to heal his wounds for the next fight. He had failed to correct his master's mistake, but he swore that it was not the end.

After Kabuto vanished, the hideout began to creak and crumble down. Chunks of rock and portions of ceiling came tumbling down around Anko and Kakashi; the whole place was coming apart. But Kakashi did not care, he was watching Anko. He was glad she was there, even if they were stuck in a dark ominous lair, he was still happy for her to be alive, to be breathing, and for her to be laying in his arms.

"You finally learned." Anko spoke slowly, smiling in between dreams.

"learned what?" He asked her.

"How to hit the mark." she replied, talking about how he had hit the plastic bag. At last, she slumped off into sleep. The drugs had finally overtaken her.

Hit the mark? The words came at him like a Katon jutsu. He could not forget that day in the training fields long ago when he missed the wooden target and Anko had made fun of him, but how could she know that now? She had lost all her memory, why would she say that?

Crazy thoughts shot through his head. 'Maybe she...' But all his ideas were ludicrous. She was just delirious from all the medicine Kabuto had pumped into her; there was no other explanation. If she did remember now, she would probably forget as soon as she awoke. Yet, as kakashi held Anko and looked into her beautiful face fast asleep, he wanted so deeply to believe she would remember. He wanted to think she would wake up and come back to him.

Was it ever love? In that moment Kakashi knew he had always loved her, but very seldom do two lovers love each other at the same time. He knew the moment would pass away leaving them, as it had always done, feeling dry and empty and cold.

Kakashi held Anko close to him as he ran out of the self-destructing hideout. He met with the other Anbu who had taken care of Kabuto's extra ninjas. As fast as they possibly could in the dark, the ninjas ran back to Konoha so they could take Anko to the hospital for further treatment. Kakashi tried not to think as he carried Anko, but his mind wandered as he watched her sleep so peacefully.

It was very early in the morning when the group made it back to Konoha. The Anbu left him and Kakashi made his way to the hospital and dropped Anko off in one of the empty rooms. He made sure a nurse was taking care of her and then left.

The sun was rising covered by thick grey clouds and masked in mist and dew as he walked out of the building. Even though he was exhausted, he did not feel like sleeping so he took out his Icha Icha Paradise and read while he walked along the dusty streets of Konoha.

His feet seemed to lead him along an old familiar path towards the stone. When he arrived he put his book away and watched the unmoving memorial intently. Gazing at all the names chiseled on the unchangeable face of the stone, he thought of every person the names belonged to, every life, every soul, and every heart.

His past fluttered in his head, all the good and bad things, laughter and trials, happiness and sadness. He thought of training with Yondaime, he recalled eating ramen with his old team, he thought of his training with Naruto, eating ramen with team 7, all the times with Sakura, Sasuke, Rin, Obito, and Anko. The stone seemed to remind him of what the real mission was. All shinobi die, but real ninjas choose to die for a reason. The stone was that reason.

* * *

Anko awoke and sat up in the cold hospital bed. The hospital room was colorless and bland and she did not feel like trusting any doctor after being stabbed with a syringe multiple times. She escaped the bed and jumped out of the window and on to the bare streets.

The day was looking more and more like a stormy one, the clouds were gathering into troubled darkness. Wind tossed her hair and flew it into her face. The earth smelt like rain; everything was already damp in anticipation.

Her stomach growling, she stopped and grabbed a couple dangos and ate them as she walked. Moving quickly for someone who had just escaped death, she ran over and scanned the town. She examined the convenient stores, the library, the mission's desk, and the training fields but could not find who she was seeking. She tried to tell herself she was crazy, but something inside her wanted to see him. And finally, after searching and searching, she found him.

Kakashi was still standing by the memorial stone. His striking silver hair matching the drooping clouds which gathered and thundered lightly. Laughter trickled out from behind him and he turned to see Anko who stood there just behind him. Her dark violet hair was tied up with her long bangs hanging in her face, she gave him a small half-smile and stood beside him next to the stone. They said nothing for a long time; neither of them sure what to say or do.

"Why did you come here, Anko?" Kakashi asked her after a silence.

"You deserve a thank you." she replied.

"For saving you?" He questioned.

"No." Anko smirked repeating the words she had once said to him when they were young, "For stalking me, stepping in to help, and making yourself look like a fool."

"Oh that." Kakashi stated, smiling from behind his mask. She was so close to him, he could feel her just beside him, and he could hardly stand it. He swallowed and asked her sincerely, "so-does that mean y-you..."

"I remember." Anko told him looking down and blushing a little, "Kabuto shot me with a drug that gave me back all the memories Orochimaru had erased. Im sorry. Im-Really sorry for not being there at the exams when I promised. I was wondering...wishing, maybe..."

But Kakashi didn't need to hear the rest; he already knew. That look in her eyes was the song in his heart. He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her into him. Slowly she raised her soft hands to his cheeks and he looked into her smooth grey eyes. Her eyes were strong and stormy just like the clouds that rumbled in the distant sky. Cautiously, Anko pulled down the black mask Kakashi wore that had separated them for so long and he bent down to kiss her lightly on her lips. Dangerously and passionately, she kissed back. They were so close, so complete, that it felt like they had never once been apart.

Lightning cracked in the forest farther off, rain suddenly poured from the sky overhead, and thunder followed with its booming voice. Water from the sky, rain from the clouds, joining forever Earth and the heavens. Beside the stone they stood, kissing in the pouring rain, just two lovers under the watchful sky.

Were they young once again, innocent once more, pure and happy without hate in their hearts? Don't ask me. All I know is that the rain fell, soaking their clothes and their hair, onto the ground. It gathered noisily and swiftly into the faraway streams, made its way into the rushing rivers, and at last found its home, once again, in the wide open sea.

~3~


End file.
